Conservative manfiesto "great swindle" says GMB

Theresa May leading us down garden path again, says union. The GMB has described the Conservative Manifesto as a ‘great swindle’.

The election pledge, unveiled today, offers a bleak vision for Britain’s future according to the union.

Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary said: “It’s all well and good talking up a great meritocracy, but in reality the Conservatives are proposing a great swindle.

“Many families already feeling the pinch face shouldering the burden for the social care they desperately need.

“I fail to see how scrapping hot school meals for hungry kids will help them get on in life.

“Theresa May has promised the biggest expansion of workers’ rights by any Conservative government but there’s precious little here to tackle insecure work or make the richest pay their fair share.

“I’m afraid this Prime Minister is attempting to lead us down the garden path.

“Theresa May’s social care shake up won’t encourage greater stability in the sector, raise standards, or improve conditions for care workers so they can provide the best support.

“It will leave working people shouldering the cost of care.

“These means testing plans would push up the cost of care overall, and do nothing to address the more than £2 billion funding gap expected by 2020.”

Manifesto measures include:

Balancing the budget by 2025

No increase in VAT – but scrapping a 2015 election pledge not to raise income tax or National Insurance

Increasing the national living wage to 60% of the median earnings by 2020

Restating the commitment to bring net immigration down to tens of thousands a year

Increasing NHS spending by a minimum of £8bn in real terms over the next five years

A pledge that a referendum on Scottish independence cannot take place until the Brexit process is completed

Scrapping winter fuel payments to better-off pensioners – at the moment, all pensioners qualify for one-off payments of between £100 and £300 each winter

A reduction of the so-called “triple lock” on pensions to a “double lock” with the state pension to rise by the higher of average earnings or inflation – but to no longer go up by 2.5% if they are both lower than that

An extra £4bn on schools in England by 2022 – partly funded by an end to the current provision of free school lunches for all infant pupils in England

Scrapping the ban on setting up new grammar schools

Measures on immigration, including asking firms to pay more to hire migrant workers, who will in turn be asked to pay more to use the NHS

Joe is a freelance journalist who writes news and features for national newspapers and a variety of magazine titles. He studied Economics and Politics at the University of Manchester and also has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.